Ms. Cecilia Abena Dapaah (in cap), Minister, Sanitation and Water Resources,

inspecting one of the facilities

 So far 80,000 people have been provided with household toilets under the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Assemblies’ Sanitation and Water Project (GKMA-SWP) of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

This followed the construction of 10,000 house­hold toilets, since the start of the project a year and half ago.

Also, the project has awarded contracts to 129 contractors to provide 120 schools with toilets.

These came to light during a working tour of the sector Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, to monitor the progress of work,here.

It is recalled the Minister, in November 19,2021,launched the GKMA-SWP project as part of government’s determination to provide pragmatic measures to find a lasting solution to the water and sanitation problems in the country.

The World Bank funded project is expected to con­struct 30,000 household toilet facilities in the GKMA before the close of the project in December 2024, with the bio-digester toilet system being the main containment technology.

It is an extension of the Greater Accra Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA- SWP), which started from 2015.

After a successful project implementation at the end of 2020, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, with financial and technical support from the World Bank, agreed to extend the project to Greater Kumasi until the end of 2024.

In Kumasi, the project is being implemented in eight Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies(M­MAs)- Asokwa, Oforikrom, old Tafo, Suame, Kwadaso, Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly, Kumasi Metro­politan Assembly (KMA) and Ejisu Municipality.

Ms. Dapaah was full of hope the target would be met as she expressed satisfaction about the contrac­tors’ performances.

During the visits, she took her time to interact with some of the benefi­ciaries and stressed the importance of maintaining the facilities.

At Oforikrom, Asokwa, Ejisu-Be­sease,among other places visited, the institutional toilet facilities were at their completion stages.

These facilities have private places for the school girls to enable them feel comfortable to manage their menstruation safely, hygienically with confidence and dignity.

Project Coordinator, George Asiedu, stated that the total cost of the project was $125 million out of which $51,550 million has been allo­cated for water supply which was being managed by the Ghana Water Company Limited with the sanita­tion component having $73,450 million.

According to Mr. Asiedu, 67 per cent of the sanita­tion fund had been spent so far on the project.

He said that government had absorbed over 75 per cent of the cost of construction of the toilets which households were expected to pay only GH¢1,200.00 for a complete toilet and GH¢700.00 for biodigester if they had the toilet building already.

From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi